After Kardashian Debacle, Malibu Aims To Boost 'Struggling' City Hall Morale

MALIBU, CA — City staff have been "struggling" with morale, the city manager said, as the City Council took time at a recent meeting to clear the air about Councilmember Bruce Silverstein's scathing accusations that Malibu officials unfairly bent the rules for an event hosted by Kourtney Kardashian.

"The past few weeks have been a bit challenging for the staff. I know there's a lot of factors for that," City Manager Steve McClary said at the council's Sept. 27 meeting. "I think we're struggling a little bit with morale and we're going to need to find some ways to shore that up."

McClary delivered his comments at a meeting that was dedicated entirely to the "Malibu Culture Project," a sweeping plan meant to improve city operations, workplace morale and culture and staff recruitment and retention.

The project has long been in the works, but the meeting's timing was fortuitous: It came just days after Silverstein's Facebook post, which attracted international media attention.

In the post, titled "City for Sale," Silverstein accused city staff of selling out to the rich and famous, and Kardashian specifically, based on a series of actions around an event hosted by the reality TV star. After Silverstein pointed out to event organizers and city officials that the planned party was breaking city rules, the saga culminated with swift action by City Hall in an attempt to bring everything above board, he wrote.

"It is incredible and entirely unacceptable that the city staff, including the Chief Code Enforcement Officer, Planning Director, Interim City Attorney, and possibly the City Manager would join together to move heaven and earth to get this accomplished on no day’s advance notice for a wealthy celebrity when our residents are required to wait days, weeks and even months for such attention respecting matters of much greater concern than a celebrity party," he wrote.

Council members took some time during the Sept. 27 meeting to air their reactions to Silverstein's post and discuss how to move forward.

Councilmembers Paul Grisanti and Marianne Riggins said they believe it's important elected officials go directly to city staff — in particular the city manager who oversees day-to-day City Hall operations — if they believe there is a problem.

"We have to look at this as if it's our marriage. If there's a problem in the marriage, we don't run to the newspaper and the television," Councilmember Paul Grisanti said. "To the public we should be unruffled and efficient. We should not be running around with our hair on fire about things because it causes a real lack of respect and a total loss of confidence."

But Silverstein disagreed with that analogy. He said he offers both praise and criticism to city staffers publicly and privately.

"I'm not married to anybody here," he said. "This is not my home. This is a public setting, we're here at a Brown Act meeting and if I see issues that are troubling and I don't see them getting resolved, I have no problem with going to the public — which is who I represent."

Riggins, holding a bound copy of the Municipal Code, said it's important to consider the way criticism is delivered and that she has faith in those hired to conduct the city's business. "Every single staff member, whether they're brand new or been here for years, they strive to enforce these rules, these regulations, because that's what they're being paid to do and that's what they value," she said.

While Silverstein argued he represents voters, rather than the institution that is the city of Malibu, Councilmember Doug Stewart said that city staffers are among elected officials' constituents.

Steve Uhring, who succeeded Silverstein as mayor in a routine leadership change the day prior, said he learned from his business career that constructive criticism is an important part of learning, moving forward and doing better.

"If something goes wrong, I think we have the responsibility to at least point it out and try for the next time to make sure it doesn't happen again," Uhring said.

McClary said he and his staff are always endeavoring to improve and understand that criticism is part of doing a job. "We all here have very high standards, we always want to do better, we always want to get it right," he said.

The council unanimously approved the Culture Project, which includes:

• Adopting a list of 20 priority projects, which replaces an existing work plan
• Directing the city manager to deliver progress updates on the project to the council every two months
• Setting a workshop for March 2024 to revisit and possibly refresh the priority project list
• Directing staff to return to the council to consider actions meant to improve employee recruitment and retention, including matters surrounding time off and benefits

You can read more about the Malibu Culture Project in a city staff report.